The CD trick failed for us. young sparrows sat right under them, pecking off the new seed our landscaper just put down.

I have to agree with the other post above about blending seed with soil. We hired a landscaper to strip/reseed 1/2 our backyd this year after losing a battle with drought/heat/grubs/skunks. He put down new soil, then spread seed, followed by a thin layer of peat moss. In areas up front where I did the reseeding myself I first mixed topsoil, seed blend & milorganite in a wheelbarrow. Result: the birds went crazy in the backyd, and left the spots I did largely alone. The areas I did seem to be doing better.

jww wrote:The CD trick failed for us. young sparrows sat right under them, pecking off the new seed our landscaper just put down.

I have to agree with the other post above about blending seed with soil. We hired a landscaper to strip/reseed 1/2 our backyd this year after losing a battle with drought/heat/grubs/skunks. He put down new soil, then spread seed, followed by a thin layer of peat moss. In areas up front where I did the reseeding myself I first mixed topsoil, seed blend & milorganite in a wheelbarrow. Result: the birds went crazy in the backyd, and left the spots I did largely alone. The areas I did seem to be doing better.

I gotta say I used CD's - a total of 16 ... bunches of 4s at different heights - usually between 3 feet and 8 feet off the ground ... and it worked nearly 100%.

Re: HOW TO DETER BIRDS FROM EATING GRASS LAWN SEED?

Sat May 11, 2013 1:32 pm

I found it, after seeing birds come on in after figuring out that the sparkling tape on stakes flickering in the breezes that I stuck around the yard wasn't going to hurt them (there must be crows giving classes).

This works best (is most efficient) when you have areas of the yard to re-seed rather than dispersed spots. Mine are traffic areas that need refreshing every year.

Buy a roll of the least expensive lightweight plastic fencing for gardens you can find, cut it into sections appropriate to cover re-seeded areas, and lay it flat over the existing grass and new seed. There is plenty of room for light and moisture to get in as the new seed takes root, and the birds hate it. Then when the new seed germinates in a week or two, up it comes to be rolled up and used again when needed. After 20 years of trying to discourage the birds this has finally worked.

Re: HOW TO DETER BIRDS FROM EATING GRASS LAWN SEED?

Thu Jun 29, 2017 3:42 pm

Oh the frustration of birds! I've been pondering solutions to keep them away or off a newly planted area under a large oak tree. What I came up with is window screening (had a large roll) and made use of some window screens I don't use from the house.

Re: HOW TO DETER BIRDS FROM EATING GRASS LAWN SEED?

There are lots of birds look see what you have in your yard and learn what they eat.

If you don't want birds eating grass seed then cover it up with soil or straw.

Many years ago I worked for a lawn service company best time to plant grass, trees, bushes, is in the fall when weather is rather cold, bugs have died from frost or first freeze and birds have gone.

My idea of lawn care is not to have any. My yard is all natural, grass, clover, dandelions, moles, birds and cats. I will never spray weed killer on my yard and I don't like neighbors that spray toxic poison on their yard their grass looks so FAKE. When my white clover & dandelions are attracting honey bees I will not mow it.

Re: HOW TO DETER BIRDS FROM EATING GRASS LAWN SEED?

Fri Sep 15, 2017 6:15 am

Cd's only work until the birds figure out they won't harm them, then they come back. We tried Cd's to keep the birds from pulling out the lettuce seedlings to get to the worms. It worked about a week, then they came back and ignored the cd's.

I heard about using straw, it would make it harder for the birds to find the seeds.

Most local homeowners will use plugs or stolons instead of seeds. No bird problems but depending on the grass it takes a while to fill in.